The Gift
by AerynSG1
Summary: What would you do if you knew ALL the possibilities?
1. Default Chapter

The Gift

By Aeryn

Chapter One

* * *

"Unscheduled offworld activation."

O'Neill sighed as the Klaxons sounded, tossing the report he'd been attempting to read back into his in-box. He pushed his chair back from Hammond's desk, as he still thought of it, and made his way down to the control room.

"Who is –"

"It's SG-1, sir. They're in trouble."

O'Neill grabbed the radio mike. "Carter? What in the hell is going on out there? You weren't supposed to be back for two more days!"

"Jack!"

"Daniel? What in the hell?" The hair on the back of his neck stood at the sound of the panic Daniel's voice.

"Jack! Sam's hurt, we've got to get through NOW!"

His stomach dropped. Walter was already opening the iris as O'Neill called for a med team to the gate room.

"Daniel, you're clear," he said, sounding calm and feeling anything but.

"Jack," Daniel cried, out of breath. "It's bad, you need to be ready-"

"We're ready, just get your asses through the damned gate!"

O'Neill rushed into the gate room to join the med team at the bottom of the ramp. He tried to ready himself for what he might see next, but nothing could had prepared him for what came through that gate.

All three of them were covered in her blood, although Teal'c was the worst – he was carrying her. She was – or had been - bleeding heavily from at least half a dozen wounds that seemed to cover her from the knee up, her uniform ripped to shreds.

But the worst was a deep gash in her upper thigh, all the way through to the bone. Daniel struggled to hold tight a tourniquet as they stumbled down the ramp. O'Neill would learn later that they'd been walking this way for an hour. Carter's face was slack and pale, and O'Neill was struck with fear at the way her body slumped limply in Teal'c's arms.

"Goddammit," O'Neill muttered under his breath and instinctively started towards them before the med team pushed him out of the way. Carter was moved quickly and smoothly onto a gurney and rushed off to the infirmary while the doctors and nurses on duty barked orders at one another.

Dazed, he turned to look at Teal'c and Daniel. "What HAPPENED?"

Daniel sank to his knees, breathing heavily. "The ruins were booby-trapped, Jack."

O'Neill looked at Teal'c. He noted that the big man's eyes were flat and emotionless. "I am unfamiliar with the weapon, O'Neill. It seems that Col. Carter activated a device which projects razorlike shrapnel at very high speeds. It appeared to come directly from the wall on which some glyphs were written. She is wounded deeply in eight places but the worst is her leg. The femoral artery was severed. I believe that even the bone may have been scored."

O'Neill turned away from them, nausea gripping him suddenly and fiercely. He bent over, hands on knees breathing deeply.

Teal'c grabbed him by the shoulder. O'Neill looked up. He could see now that Teal'c's eyes weren't emotionless – he was weeping.

"O'Neill, this is a life-threatening injury. And although we tried, I do not believe DanielJackson and I were able to get her here in time."

"I'm so sorry, Jack, if we'd just been a little closer to the gate . . ." Daniel moaned from his place on the floor.

"O'Neill, you must go to her now. Her time is short, if indeed there is any time left at all." He paused, obviously finding it hard to speak.

O'Neill felt a surging scream of denial rising up from his gut. This did NOT happen. This NEVER happened. They ALWAYS made it through okay, this just DID NOT HAPPEN . . .

"Gen. O'Neill to the infirmary immediately," came the call over the intercom.

"Oh, God," he whispered. "Oh, fuck no."

"Go, O'Neill," Teal'c whispered. "I believe this is your last chance."

* * *

"So, that's it?" he asked, voice brittle.

"There's nothing else we can do, sir, she just lost too much blood in a very short amount of time," said Dr. Ballinger.

Carter's still form lie on the bed between them. O'Neill hadn't gotten to talk to her. It had been too late.

"So, nothing. No Goa'uld healing devices, no blood transfusions, just nothing."

"I'm sorry, sir. I really am." And he was. Over forty people had lined up to donate blood once they'd heard the nature of Carter's injuries. And he'd had to turn them all away. These were good people and Carter was one of the best, a bright future . . .

"What about the T'okra?"

"We've sent word. Jacob should be here as soon as he can."

"Good, but what about one of their worms? Wouldn't that work? Stranger things have happened," O'Neill said, a certain sort of hopeful desperation in his voice.

"Sir, Col. Carter was very specific," Ballinger said. He held up her file. "No life support, no extreme measures, and she made perfectly clear that included Goa'uld implantation."

O'Neill dropped his head. "Jollinar," he muttered.

"Yes, I think so," Ballinger said.

"So it's over. It's really over."

"Yes. She's gone."

O'Neill's head snapped up. "She's not GONE," he spat. "She's fucking DEAD. Let's not beat around the bush, doctor, she's DEAD. Not passed away, not gone to heaven, – DEAD."

The doctor dropped his head. "Yes, sir."

"Get out of here."

"Well, sir, we really need to move her down to the morgue . . . "

"No, you really don't," O'Neill snapped. "She stays here until Jacob comes."

"Uh, well, okay, sir . . ."

"Get out."

The doctor scuttled away, shaking his head. As many times as he'd had to do this, it never got any easier.

O'Neill closed the curtain around Carter's bed and looked down at her. She was still pale, but clean, none of her wounds visible now. He studied her face, struggling to fathom the fact that the woman he'd sent out into the field only four hours earlier was dead.

Carter dead. No more technobabble, no more saving the world. Never seeing those eyes again.

Fuck.

He felt rather than heard Teal'c and Daniel come up behind him. He didn't turn around.

"Did you see it happen?" he asked, still gazing down at Carter's face.

"We did, O'Neill."

"Was she conscious?"

"Yeah, at first," Daniel said, voice conveying his exhaustion and grief. "She even tried to do all the first aid herself. You know how she was." He smiled slightly, brushing away tears.

"Did she say anything?"

"Well . . . at first she worried about losing her leg. Then, I think, she realized –"He broke off, unable to continue.

"She was very weak, O'Neill, but she insisted we stop and listen to her," Teal'c said.

"She told us that we were two of her very best friends and that this didn't change anything, she'd still be with us on each mission," Daniel said, voice breaking. "She said we'd better not do anything as stupid as she just did or we'd have her to answer to."

O'Neill smiled bleakly.

"And she asked us to tell Jacob not to worry, that she died doing what she loved."

Grief from all three of the men gave the air in the infirmary a tremendous weight. It was difficult to move, difficult to talk. O'Neill was silent.

"Jack . . . are you all right?"

"No," he said after a moment.

"O'Neill," said Teal'c. "She also had a message for you."

O'Neill tensed.

"She said not to blame yourself."

He smiled bitterly. She knew him too well.

"She also said to tell you that she was sorry."

"Sorry? What the fuck does that mean?" he asked, voice breaking.

"I am sorry, I do not know. I assumed that you would."

O'Neill breathed deeply, fighting furiously against the tears that threatened to fall.

"That's it?"

"That is it, O'Neill. She passed into unconsciousness after that. She never woke up again."

He waited for several breaths until he could count on his voice being steady.

"Guys, I know you've both been through a lot, but I've still got to tell Cassie and wait for Jacob to arrive. Do you mind giving me some time?"

"Sure, Jack," Daniel said. "We'll be . . . well, you know where to find us."

O'Neill nodded and heard them turn and leave the room.

She was sorry. What in the hell was that supposed to mean? Sorry about dying on him? Then she fucking SHOULD be sorry.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her medical file. He picked it up and leafed through it, looking for what, he didn't know. Then he saw it.

She'd been pregnant. Three months.

His knees buckled and he grabbed the rail of her bed for support. He didn't have to think about it, he knew the baby was his. Why the fuck hadn't she told him?

O'Neill eased back into a chair and pulled it close to her bedside, taking her hand. It was already cold, but he gripped it tightly. He would wait here for Jacob, tell him there were to be two memorial services.

Then he would leave.

Forever.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

  
The Gift

Chapter Two

* * *

He was driving, a warm feeling in his chest like he'd been laughing.  
  
They were on a desert road, top down, sun setting to their left.  
  
He looked at her, amazed at the way she glowed in the light of the sun going down. She smiled at him and held back her long hair with one hand as she reached down to turn up the music. Satisfied, she sat back, bare feet on the dash, chipped pink polish on her toes.  
  
"Carter?"  
  
She looked at him. "Carter?" she asked, smiling. "You haven't called me Carter in ages."  
  
"What is this?" he asked, looking over his sunglasses.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "It's Keith Urban. You should know that by now, you bitch all the time about me saying he's a hottie." She fluttered her eyelashes.  
  
"No, I mean – and he is not a hottie. What are you, twelve?"  
  
"You're one to talk!" she said, laughing.  
  
He pulled to the side of the road and she turned down the music. He stopped and looked at her. She smiled uncertainly. "What, Jack?"  
  
"What's going on?" he asked.  
  
"Are you all right?" she asked, lines of worry appearing around her eyes.  
  
"Just tell me what we're doing."  
  
She looked puzzled. "Well, we got up this morning and you said let's go for a drive, since we have nothing better to do. And here we are. Ever since the government shut down the SGC we've been . . . well, bums kind of."  
  
She looked at him closely. "Are you okay?"  
  
He looked around. The red-gold light of the setting sun painted the desert a rich, vibrant ochre, and gave Sam's skin and hair a luminescence that he'd never forget. He wished he had a camera.  
  
He reached out to grab her leg below her skirt. Warm and smooth and very much alive.  
  
He smiled at her. "Tell me a story."  
  
"A story," she said, looking at him quizzically.  
  
"Yes. The story of us. Tell me how we got to this place."  
  
"Don't you remember? Have you sustained a head injury of some sort?"  
  
"Just humor me."  
  
She smiled and leaned back in her seat.  
  
"Well, once upon a time we met at Stargate Command. And YOU fell in love with me immediately, of course."  
  
"Of course," he said, grinning.  
  
"However, due to Air Force regulations, you were unable to declare your love for me. At least, not in those specific terms."  
  
"And when did you fall in love with ME, princess?"  
  
She grinned. "Before I even met you, I think. Now shut up and let me finish the story."  
  
He did.  
  
"Anyway, one day last year, skipping all the boring details, you saved the world."  
  
"Wow! I must be some kind of superhero or something."  
  
She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Anyway, once Anubis had been defeated, the Asgard were able to regain control of the galaxy, with their new fleet of faster-than-light ships, one of which is in constant orbit around Earth." She cast her gaze upward. "The Daniel Jackson. And the Goa'uld were a threat no more."  
  
"The Daniel Jackson?"  
  
"The newly-built O'Neill is in another star system on a scientific research mission."  
  
He snorted. "Typical."  
  
"Anyway, after we were sure the Goa'uld could be kept at bay by the Asgard, the administration stripped the SGC down to the barest minimum of a crew."  
  
"But what about the Replicators?"  
  
"The who?"  
  
"Never mind. Go on."  
  
"Teal'c went home, Daniel took a teaching position on the East Coast, you retired and I sat around trying to decide if I wanted to take a new commission."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And one cold, stormy night, you showed up at my door."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"No, that's not it." She smiled, eyes darkening. "You touched my mouth with your thumb. Like this."  
  
She reached over and stroked her thumb gently across his lips. He caught it between his teeth.  
  
"And you cried," she said.  
  
He released her thumb to protest. "I never!"  
  
"Yes, you did. I did, too. And we've been together ever since. And then yesterday we found out about George."  
  
"George?" he asked, suddenly worried something happened to Hammond.  
  
"Yes, George," she said, looking down at her abdomen and caressing it lightly. "He's about four months old, from what I can tell. You picked the name."  
  
His mouth fell open as realization dawned. God. He had her back. And the baby, too.  
  
"And this morning you herded me into the car, and here we are. You said something about making an honest woman of me."  
  
He breathed deeply and looked around. "Vegas?"  
  
"That's what you said, unless you're having second thoughts," she said. A note of uncertainty had crept into her voice. "Jack, are you sure you're okay?"  
  
He looked at her, absolutely aching with joy. None of this is real, can't be, he thought, but he did not care. He might be dead, he might be dreaming, but he was staying here forever. He had her back.  
  
"Am I okay?" he whispered. "I've never been better."  
  
She smiled, reassured, and he slid across the seat and pulled her onto his lap and they made love on the side of the road as the sun went down.  
  
TBC

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

  
The Gift

Chapter 3

* * *

He was face down on the dusty floor of the cell, hands tied behind his back and ratty gag in his mouth. Struggling to see through swollen eyes, he noted the stench of shit and piss and sweat and fear. He forced down the urge to vomit, knowing he'd choke to death if he did.  
  
A wet slick hiss of air drew his attention. Carter, her face inches from his, mouth moving but emitting no sound. He blinked several times, trying to understand her. She was naked, her emaciated form bruised from the beatings and the rape.  
  
Enraged but weakened, he struggled to sit upright. A ragged moan from Carter stopped him. Her eyes locked on his, pleading, and he saw it.  
  
They'd slit her throat and left her to bleed out on the floor of the cell.  
  
He moaned, watching the slow slide of her blood on the gentle slope of the cell floor, moving towards him.  
  
Again he fought to move, to help, but weeks of starvation and minimal water left him too weak to come to her aid.  
  
Helpless, he lay and watched her, wincing each time the wet hiss of air left her throat. She needed him, he could feel her begging for him and he couldn't move, goddammit, he couldn't fucking move –  
  
Again her eyes locked on his, the look in them hazy now, and he panicked as he saw death steal into her gaze even as the warmth of her blood pooled around his face. No, he tried to call to her, come back, but the look in her eyes flattened and she was gone. He closed his eyes, tears stinging the bruises and lacerations on his face and he cried, bathed in her blood.

* * *

He was standing at attention in a briefing room at the SGC. Looking around he saw several dozen people, some familiar, some not.  
  
Someone entered through the door behind him. "At ease," she said, and moved to the podium. "Please, everyone, be seated."  
  
He sat, looking at her closely. She was radiant, excited. Nervous, too, but that would be obvious only to someone who knew her well.  
  
And look at that. He smiled. Stars on her shoulders.  
  
"Hello, everyone, I'm Brigadier General Samantha Carter-Henderson."  
  
His swift intake of breath drew Daniel's attention, who looked at him quizzically.  
  
"A lot of you already know me, I've done a great deal of consulting work for the SGC over the past several years."  
  
Some in the audience nodded, some smiled.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I was called to join the Stargate Project when it first began. However, at the time I was in labor."  
  
Soft laughter from most, heartache for one.  
  
"Twins," she said. "Identical. Girls." She smiled.  
  
"Three years after that, I got another call from General Hammond. And I was again, literally, in labor," she said grinning. "Twins again. Boys, this time."  
  
"So, instead of being able to be here full-time, I had to settle for consulting work. I've been amazed, ladies and gentlemen, by the work you've done here. And proud. The American people would be glad to know they're in such good hands."  
  
"When General Hammond called me to tell me he was retiring and that I was being assigned as his replacement, I was more than a little nervous. This project is a tremendous undertaking and lives are always in the balance, as I know you all are well aware."  
  
"So while the prospect of heading the SG project is daunting, I also find it tremendously exciting. And while I know it might be difficult adjusting to a new commander, I want to assure you that I will do my best for this project and for all of you."  
  
"Now, as you all know, I have a lot to catch up on, so I'll keep this brief. But I wanted all of you to know my door is open anytime."  
  
She smiled out at them. "Dismissed."  
  
Rustling and murmurs as the crowd rose and dispersed. He watched as she was stopped from time to time on her way out the door, speaking with various people, introducing herself personally to others. He waited by the door.  
  
Finally she headed in his direction. She stopped abruptly as she saw him waiting for her. He felt a jolt of surprise at the look of hostility on her face.  
  
"Col. O'Neill," she said coolly.  
  
"Gen. Carter," he said.  
  
"Carter-Henderson," she corrected sharply.  
  
"My apologies, ma'am."  
  
He paused, at a loss for a moment. What exactly was it he wanted to say?  
  
"Ma'am, I just wanted to welcome you aboard and wish you the best."  
  
She looked surprised. "Really?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Of course."  
  
"O'Neill, rumor had it you were the one yelling the loudest about my taking over Hammond's command. Something about my 'lack of experience,' I believe."  
  
He smiled sadly. He probably had squawked words to that effect.  
  
"If that's the impression I gave, I apologize," he said. "I know you'll do superbly as commander of the SGC." And he meant it.  
  
She looked at him a long moment, as if trying to determine if he was serious. Finally, the hard look on her features softened just a bit.  
  
"Thank you, O'Neill. I'd like to see you and your team in the briefing room at 0800 tomorrow."  
  
"Sure, see you then," he said, but she was already gone.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

The Gift

Chapter 4

* * *

They were making love.  
  
The candles on the windowsill lent a faint golden light to the snow falling lightly outside.  
  
This time he didn't question.  
  
He just exulted in the feel of being inside her, thrusting deeply and slowly, in awe at how she could feel so familiar and yet so new.  
  
Beneath the comforter they'd pulled over them against the chill, he slid one hand down the length of her body, reveling in the silken feel of her, rejoicing in the fact the fact that she was whole, that she was here, and that she was his.  
  
He brought his eyes to her face. She was watching him closely, her expression a mixture of pleasure and trepidation.  
  
He stilled. Was this their first time?  
  
He smiled and brought a hand to her face.  
  
"So beautiful," he whispered. "I love you so much. Always have."  
  
She gasped a little at his words and the accompanying thrust of his body into hers. Forgetting her fear and finally letting go, she moaned in pleasure at the feel of the roughness of his skin against hers, of him deep inside her.  
  
Groaning, he began to move faster and more roughly, thrusting deeply inside her as she called out his name.  
  
Without being aware of it, he was whispering against her lips, a mantra or chant: please, please, please, please . . .  
  
"Please what, Jack?" she asked, breathless.  
  
He halted, staring into the depths of her eyes. He startled as her fingers swept away the tears he didn't know were streaming down his cheeks.  
  
"Please what, Jack?" she asked again.  
  
"Please," he whispered. "Please let this be real."  
  
She smiled, tightening her legs around him and kissing him long and deeply.  
  
"More real than anything I've ever felt, Jack."  
  
He stared at her for a very long while.  
  
"You saved my life," he whispered, and this time she cried, and laughed, and they kissed and touched one another, knowing that each had finally come home.

* * *

He was drunk.  
  
He watched as she hauled her suitcases to the car.  
  
"I'll be back Sunday, Jon," she said. "Do me a favor and don't drive, okay? I don't feel like driving all the way back from Kansas City to bail you out of jail again."  
  
"I could call Teal'c or Daniel," he muttered.  
  
"Teal'c and Daniel are DEAD, Jon," she snapped. "Don't you DARE tell me you've forgotten that."  
  
He said nothing but his stomach knotted at the sound of disgust in her voice.  
  
The door slammed.  
  
He fumbled for his keys.

* * *

"What's with you, Jon? You're usually a lot more fun when the wife's out of town," the bartender said.  
  
"What the hell do you know about my wife?" O'Neill asked belligerently.  
  
"Well, let's see," the bartender said, propping his arms on the bar. "I know what you tell me every time you come in here. That you asked her to give up her career so you could be together and she hates you for that. That she miscarried in her fifth month early in your marriage, and she hates you for refusing to try again. That after the miscarriage, your drinking got worse, started to affect your job, got a couple of your buddies killed, and she hates you for that."  
  
He looked at O'Neill closely.  
  
"That about sum it up?"

* * *

He was at her wedding reception, raising a toast to her and Pete . . .  
  
He was watching in amazement as she bore him a daughter . . .  
  
He was on his couch and she was on his lap . . .  
  
He was holding her as she cried after the death of her favorite cat . . .  
  
He was at her going-away party, she was leaving the SGC . . .  
  
He was meeting her husband for the first time . . .  
  
He was at her funeral, his arm around Cassie . . .  
  
He was dying on a Goa'uld mother ship, and she was holding his hand and weeping . . .  
  
He was at their son's little league game . . .  
  
Faster the images came, rolling past like a slide show, each more emotionally wrenching than the last, faster and faster and faster . . .  
  
He awoke, gasping for air.  
  
"Jack?"  
  
He looked up blearily. "Daniel?"  
  
Daniel smiled in relief. "Yeah, it's me. You're awake, finally."  
  
O'Neill peered at him. "Are you SURE I'm awake? The page isn't going to flip again?" he asked, voice hoarse.  
  
Daniel handed him a glass of water. "I promise you're awake, back to your own self. Weird, though, Sam came in here this morning absolutely positive you'd wake up today."  
  
O'Neill looked at him sharply. "Carter? She's here?"  
  
Daniel looked puzzled. "Well, of course she's here. Where else would she be?"  
  
O'Neill collapsed back on to the bed in relief. "God, Daniel, you have no idea."  
  
Comprehension dawned. "Oh, right, the parallel universe thing," Daniel said. "I take it some of them weren't so . . . keen?"  
  
"To put it mildly," O'Neill said. "And how did you know about that? And how long have I been asleep? And where the hell am I?"  
  
"Well, sir, we knew because Thor told us," Carter said, coming in from a door to his right. "You've been asleep over a week and . . ."  
  
Daniel smiled at the smug look on her face.  
  
"And we're aboard the Samantha Carter," he finished for her.  
  
"Flag ship for the Asgard," she told O'Neill, literally bouncing with excitement. "But enough about the biggest, baddest, SMARTEST ship in the fleet."  
  
He grinned weakly.  
  
She knelt beside him. "How are you, sir?"  
  
He stared at her for a long while, just drinking in her features.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Oh. Well . . . oddly enough, I'm tired. Weird, wouldn't you say, for one who's been asleep for over a week? And how, exactly, did I happen to fall asleep and STAY asleep that long?"  
  
"The Gift," Carter and Daniel chimed in unison.  
  
"The what?"  
  
"The Gift."  
  
He moaned, covering his eyes with one forearm. "Sure as hell didn't FEEL like a gift."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

The Gift

Chapter 5

* * *

"I'm sure it was quite difficult, O'Neill." 

He peeked from beneath his forearm. "Thor?"

"Yes, O'Neill. It is good to see you again." He was gliding his slender fingers across a control board, peering closely at what he saw there.

"Anyone care to explain things a bit more thoroughly?"

"Certainly, O'Neill." He worked on the control board a bit more, then turned and walked to O'Neill's bedside. He moved some type of stone at the head of the bed and the IVs and monitors attached to O'Neill disappeared.

"Several days ago I brought the Carter into orbit around Earth. I thought you all might wish to see it."

O'Neill glanced at Carter, who was grinning like a fool.

"I brought all of you up for a tour. But as soon as you came aboard, O'Neill, you collapsed."

"At first we weren't sure what was wrong," Carter interjected. "You seemed to be experiencing normal sleep, but we couldn't wake you up."

"Correct," Thor said. "After we monitored you for a period of time we realized you were experiencing some very unusual REM cycles, followed by longer periods of deep, dreamless sleep."

"Felt real," O'Neill said. He grimaced. "Too real."

"After running through all of the information from the Ancients we downloaded from you, we realized there was a connection. A sort of program left in your brain had activated when you came back into contact with the Ancients," Thor said.

"You were . . . messing around with some of the controls," Daniel said.

"Oops," O'Neill said.

"Dr. Jackson and I worked to decipher the information relating to this program that was running in your brain. We could not translate all of it, but we understood enough to know that you awaken eventually."

"And that they called the . . . program . . . The Gift."

"And what did this Gift do to me, exactly?"

"Apparently, the Ancients had opened a sort of portal for you," Daniel said. "From what we could decipher of the text, you were being allowed to visit parallel universes, alternate realities, through the dream state."

O'Neill grunted.

"What exactly did you see, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, just . . . stuff," he said, gesturing vaguely. "About us, about . . . all of us."

"Really? Good or bad?" Carter asked.

"Some . . . really, really bad," O'Neill said, remembering. "And some really, really, REALLY good." He glanced at her quickly, eyes taking in the curve of her hip.

"Aw, come on, Jack! You're not going to give us any more detail than that?" Daniel asked.

"Not now, Daniel. Maybe later." He looked at Thor. "Is this program done? Am I okay now? I'd like to go home. Stupid Ancients."

"Yes, O'Neill, I believe the program has run its course," Thor said. "But you are weakened; I would like for you to rest a while before returning to Earth."

"Sure, fine, whatever," he said. "You're the doc."

Thor bowed his head and returned to his readouts.

O'Neill looked at Carter and Daniel. "Why don't you guys get us ready to beam out of here? I wanna rest a bit, get cleaned up."

"Of course, sir," Carter said. "Teal'c is on the surface, anxious to see you. Apparently you've become a father while you were out."

He stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Your fish," Daniel said, laughing. "Teal'c's been hovering over them like a hen."

"Oh! Well, it'll be nice to see the kids when I get back."

They smiled, and left to get their gear ready for departure.

O'Neill waited until they were gone, then turned to Thor.

"Thor, can I talk to you about all this?"

"Certainly, O'Neill." He moved back to O'Neill's bedside. "What is your concern?"

"Well, all of these . . . dreams," he said. "Every one of them had to do with Carter and me."

"Really?" Thor asked. "I would have assumed they would have been more general than that."

"No, they were pretty . . . specific," O'Neill said. "We were either lovers, or married, or one of us was dying, or she was married to someone else, or our babies were being born . . ."

"I understand, O'Neill."

"Well, does it mean anything?"

"The program was called the Gift," Thor said. "Perhaps you were being given the opportunity to explore your relationship with Colonel Carter in the other realities so that you might better decide how you wish to proceed in this one. Of course, I can only speculate, but since the dreams were so specific . . ."

O'Neill lay back, staring at the ceiling. "It all felt so real. Even after I understood I'd be jumping to a new version, it still felt like my life. OUR lives. Even the ugly versions."

"O'Neill, those WERE your lives," Thor said. "Even though you experienced them through dreams, they were not simply visions. What you saw is actually happening on another timeline."

O'Neill's gut twisted. "WHAT? You're telling me all of that is actually HAPPENING?" He was hit with visions of Carter bathed in blood, carrying his child . . .

"Yes, O'Neill -"

"Fuck!"

He was out of the bed, fumbling against the wall for support. "Carter!" he yelled, unsteadily making his way down the corridor she and Daniel had entered earlier.

"O'Neill!" Thor called. "You really must rest!"

He ignored him. "Carter!" he cried again, stumbling slightly.

He wobbled, vision fading to black for a moment, then slid to his knees. "Goddammit!" he muttered. "Carter!"

She came running around a turn in the corridor, Daniel right behind her. "Sir, what . . . sir!"

She ran toward him, kneeling down to help him stand. Once he was on his feet he grabbed her and fell back against the wall for support, clutching her tightly, pressing her face against chest.

"Sir!" she whispered, arms sliding around him to hold him up. "Your heart rate's way up, we need to get you back –"

"No! No," he said, burying his face in her hair. "Just . . . stop. Don't move. Please."

She looked at him for a moment, about to protest, but something in his face stopped her. She stilled, relaxing into him even as she held him tighter.

Daniel watched a moment, wondering what to do. He'd never seen them this way. He tilted his head, considering them, then nodded. Yes, this was right. Had been right all along. The Gift.

He slipped silently away.

O'Neill drew a great shuddering breath and Carter looked up at him, shocked to see he was crying. "Oh, Jack," she murmured. "God, what did they do to you? We had no idea it would be so awful . . ." She brushed her hand across his face.

He pulled her back into his embrace, saying nothing. Pressing her ear to his chest, she listened as hid heartbeat slowed and his ragged breathing evened out.

After a long while he loosened his grip on her, allowing her to lean back and look at him. "You okay?"

He nodded, still holding her.

"Jack," she whispered. "What happened?"

He sighed heavily, leaning his head back against the wall of the corridor.

"I'd like to tell you . . ." He stopped, considering. Should she know? They were her realities as much as his . . .

"Can you come by tonight?" he asked.

She studied his face, confused and concerned. "Well, okay, sure."

"Good. Now can you help me back to Thor? I think he's having a fit. Do the Asgard have fits? At any rate I'm sure he's very unhappy with me - "

"O'Neill!" Thor called.

"– right now."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

The Gift

Chapter 6

* * *

A couple of hours later Thor beamed them down to the gate room, where several medics and Teal'c were waiting for him. He walked towards them slowly, arm slung around Carter's neck, ostensibly for support although both knew better.

"It is good to see you again, O'Neill," Teal'c said. He smiled broadly and held up a small plastic container filled with water.

"What's this?" O'Neill asked.

"The infants your fish bore in your absence," Teal'c said.

O'Neill peered closely, not seeing much of anything but pretending to. "Why, how wonderful. How many are there?"

"You did not see for yourself?"

"Uh, they were moving too fast."

"There are four. I must return them to the tank. What shall we name them?"

"George, George, John and Ringo." Teal'c nodded and left to return the babies to the tank.

"George and George? What about Paul?" Daniel asked.

"He's pissed me off a lot these past few years," O'Neill said. He looked up at the control room. "Walter!"

"Hello, sir. Good to have you back."

"Things going well, I take it?"

"Actually, sir, there've been several problems with – "

"Good, good, knew you'd take care of it. I'm relieving myself of duty, Walter, you're in charge until tomorrow morning."

"Fine, sir, but you really should read these – "

"Off to the infirmary! Bye now!"

Walter sighed, looking down at Siler who was working again on the mainframe.

"He always does that to me," he said. "He ignores me, thinking I'll go away."

Siler paused and looked up at Walter. "That's what I try to do, too."

"Hey!" Walter said, kicking Siler fiercely.

Siler sighed. "Don't ever work, though."

* * *

Carter entered the infirmary.

O'Neill smiled. "All clear. Just in need of R&R."

"He shouldn't be driving, though," Dr. Ballinger said. "I'll arrange for someone to take him home."

"No, that's not necessary," Carter said. "I'll drive."

O'Neill looked up from a game of catch he was playing with himself with a roll of gauze. His eyes glittered and his grin had predatory overtones.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

She shivered.

* * *

She helped him into the house and on to his couch, where he immediately collapsed.

"Tired, sir?"

"Jack, will ya? And, yeah, I'm exhausted. Kind of scared to go to sleep though." He punched at the pillow beneath his head.

She sat in a chair across from him. "Are you ready to tell me what happened?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Some of it was awfully ugly, Carter. Are you sure you're ready to hear it?"

She nodded.

"Do we have provisions?"

"What kind of provisions?"

"Beer."

She shook her head and went to look. "You have a case," she yelled from the kitchen.

"Thank God," he said. "Bring me one and you'd better bring one for yourself."

She cracked them both open, keeping one and handing him the other.

He took a long swallow and looked at her. "You ready?"

She nodded. "As I'll ever be."

He took another swallow and began.

* * *

By the time he was done a wet washcloth was covering his forehead and Carter was staring out the window into the darkness that had fallen.

"And Thor said this is all actually happening?" she asked for the third time, crushing another empty beer can and moving to toss it into the recycle bin.

"Yes," O'Neill, voice hoarse. "The good and the bad. To other O'Neills and Carters somewhere out there."

He sat up suddenly, staring at her intently. "I can't stand it, Sam. I absolutely cannot stand the thought of those things happening to you."

She knelt in front of him. "But they're not happening to ME, Jack. I'm here, I'm fine, I'm with you." She grasped his hand and brought it to her face.

He cupped her jaw and ran his thumb across her mouth. "But it FELT like you. It may as well have been you. It WAS you. Just by fate or grace or chance, we ended up HERE, but it just as easily . . ." He stopped. "I can't . . . I can't get it out of my mind."

"You have to," she said firmly. "You'll drive yourself crazy if you don't."

He started to protest but she shushed him. "No more," she said. "Not tonight. Do you have anything I can sleep in?"

His jaw dropped.

"Well, I'm not leaving you here alone tonight," she said. "Now, focus on the GOOD things that you saw while I go rummage through your dresser."

He stared into the empty space where she'd stood a moment before. Somehow, he hadn't expected it to be that easy.

She hadn't thought twice about it. They'd been heading in this direction for years now, facing down death every day and they'd been damn lucky to make it this far. And damn foolish for not having followed their hearts sooner.

She returned shortly, wearing nothing but one of his old t-shirts. "Oh, Sam . . ." he murmured.

"You're exhausted," she said briskly. "Let's go to bed."

She started to help him up from the couch but he stopped her, pulling her down to sit beside him, trying not to notice the glimpse of pink panties her new position gave him.

"Sam . . . are you SURE about this? It could ruin your career, your life, maybe."

"Don't be ridiculous. I love you. And you love me, I assume?" He turned away from her, nodding his assent. She smiled. "Jack, are you blushing?"

"Of course not, I'm a grown man."

"Of course," she said, grinning. "Anyway, the SGC means a lot to me. But YOU mean even more, you have for a very long time. I think you know that."

Again, he nodded.

"Besides," she said teasingly. "You're the boss now. You can do anything you want."

He turned to her, a slow smile spreading across his features. "Yeah," he said. "I'm the MAN."

She grinned. "Now, enough. You've had plenty to deal with for one day. Whatever happens, happens, but right now I need to get you into bed."

He cringed. "I'm awfully tired, Sam. I may not be . . . up, so to speak, for any kind of fireworks."

"I know," she said gently. "Let's go to SLEEP."

He stood unsteadily, again flinging his arm around her shoulder. "Sleep," he said. "Actually starting to sound good."

But of course once they got into bed, they did a bit more than just sleep.

* * *

"Jack," she whispered in the dim light of his bedroom. "This – THIS is real."

He paused in mid-touch, taking in her beauty, reveling in her generosity, relieved by her patience – this WAS real.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you," he answered. "And will until the day I die."

* * *

"Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning, Jack. Feeling better, I take it?"

"I feel wonderful! Better than I ever have before. As if I've been given a gift, if you will," he said, gesturing broadly. "A really, really cool gift. The best gift ever."

"I see," Daniel said, glancing discreetly at the faintly blushing Carter, who was chewing her lip and scribbling in a notebook. He smiled. "Well, that's great. Best news we've had in a while."

"Ain't it, though?" said O'Neill, flipping through the morning's mission report. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"PXP-934," Daniel said.

"And what's there?"

"We don't know, sir," Carter said. "That's why we're going."

"Hmmmmm. Doesn't that sound kind of dangerous?"

"Well, perhaps, but not any more dangerous than any other mission we've been on."

"Still . . ."

"Jack, it's just an exploratory mission," Daniel said. "Four hours out from the wormhole, tops."

"Well, what about booby traps, or alien viruses, or hiding Goa'uld?"

"We could encounter those on any mission, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Sir, we've taken every precaution," Carter said.

He looked at her. "Carter, have you ever thought about staying on the base full time? You know, doing all that science stuff you love so much?"

He seemed unaware of the dangerous glint in her eye.

"Jack," she said warningly, not realizing her slip of the tongue. "Don't start this."

"Really, Carter, it'd be great! Think of all the scientific breakthroughs and . . . things you could do!"

Daniel sighed and slid around to face Teal'c. "We've got a good news/bad news situation here." O'Neill and Carter were still arguing in the background.

Teal'c arched an eyebrow.

"Good news: Jack and Sam are finally together," Daniel said.

Teal'c inclined his head. "I had assumed as much."

"Bad news – we're going to have to listen to this until the day we die."

Teal'c smiled. "I think you exaggerate, DanielJackson. This – "And he nodded towards Carter and O'Neill who were still arguing furiously, even though she had his hand gripped tightly in her lap while his other was in her hair. "This," he continued. "Is a small price to pay for such a precious gift."

Daniel looked back at them, smiling ruefully. "You're right, as always. So, do we wait this out?"

Teal'c looked again at the arguing twosome, who were getting quieter and closer to one another by the moment.

"I think we should adjourn, DanielJackson," he said. "I suddenly find myself very hungry."

"Agreed," Daniel said. "We stay here any longer we're liable to witness a make-out session that's against regulations, and I'd hate to be witness at any courts-martial."

The two left, and the make-out session Daniel predicted occurred, and while the lovers were slightly abashed at letting themselves get carried away, they didn't really care.

Because The Gift was real.

The End


End file.
